2024 Workshop Selections
Friday Workshops:
10:00 am - 11:00 am CENTRAL
Workshop 1: WRITING REAL HISTORY IN A CANCEL CULTURE WORLD
Presented by Tamera Alexander
Tamera will share practical lessons and inspiring insights she’s learned through her 20-year writing career.
Workshop 2: How to use AI as an Assistant
Presented by: Michelle Stimpson
Are you itching to start writing that novel or craft that mystery masterpiece? Did you start writing but then stop because you didn’t know what to write next? Or did you finish the book only to find that it fell apart somewhere along the way?
Perhaps Artificial Intelligence can serve as your assistant, helping you unravel threads and providing an outside perspective on your work. In this hands-on workshop, multi-published author Michelle Stimpson will walk you through some innovate, AI-based tools and prompts to help structure your narrative, create compelling characters, and map out your storyline with clarity and purpose. Whether you're a seasoned wordsmith or just starting your writing adventure, this workshop will help you see the pros and cons of using AI as an assistant at any point in your writing process.
Whether you're a seasoned wordsmith or just starting your writing adventure, this workshop will help you see the pros and cons of using AI as an assistant at any point in your writing process.
11:15 am - 12:15 pm CENTRAL
Workshop 3: MASTERCLASS kickoff: The Power of Focused Revision
Presented by Karen Ball
*Must have signed up for the master class series prior to registering for the Virtual Conference for this class
Few things up your craft more than layering focused revisions. With each pass, you ensure that every word is the right one, used in the right way to capture and transport your readers.
Workshop 4: The Skeletor Theory: Goodbye Plotting and Seat-of-the-Pants Writing
Presented by Jaime Jo Wright
You have ideas--a gazillion of them--and they all fit into one story. Sort of. How do you organize plot ideas, provide structure, but also give your imagination free reign to go wherever it will. It's called the "Skeletor Theory". At least, that's what Jaime Jo calls it. Come to her writing morgue as she autopsies the story and how to write efficiently but without constraints.
2:00 pm - 3:00 pm CENTRAL
Workshop 5: How to Use Body Language to Create Unforgettable Characters
Presented by Tara Johnson
Understanding body language, micro-expressions, and posture is the ultimate way to ‘show and not tell’. Since over 50% of language is non-verbal, refusing to unearth our characters’ body language is a recipe for creating flat, one-dimensional fictional people. Body language adds tremendous depth to dialogue, sets tone, and shows readers how a character’s emotions reflect in their behavior. This workshop will teach the student how to use universal body language to give their characters rich emotion, as well as teach how to spot deception and bumps in verbal language that reveal inner motive. This class will also use examples from real life, including transcripts and videos from confessed serial killers and public figures.
Workshop 6: What to do when two worlds collide: managing writing and publicity joyfully!
Presented by Jeane Burgess
What do we know for sure? That in the fiction world, writing and marketing often collide! In this workshop Jeane introduces her PIE principal, and why publicity still matters. As an author, you have to write AND market your book, but how can you get it all done? Let’s talk about what you, as an author must do, and where you can have some margin in your writing-marketing world. She will share some of the tips she has learned from observing literally hundreds of authors she has worked with over the years. You’ll leave this workshop encouraged and energized by the power of PIE
3:15 pm - 4:15 pm CENTRAL
Workshop 7: My Journey from Traditional to Indie Publishing
Presented by Robin Lee Hatcher
Robin Lee Hatcher wrote her first novel in 1981, and it was published in February 1984. Over the course of the next 38+ years, she wrote books for eleven different publishers that released 85 novels and novellas. But in early 2022, she made the decision to go indie. There were a number of factors that played into that decision, but once it was made, she began a crash course in indie publishing. Should she go wide or stick with KDP Select? What about copyright registration? How does an author find a good editor? What about beta readers? What marketing is best? Two years later, she continues to learn as she goes, and she is so grateful for the writers who have shared their knowledge to help her on her way. She would like to do the same for others. Join Robin as she shares her new adventure thus far.
Workshop 8: Writing a Killer Proposal and Query Letter
Presented by Tricia Goyer
Writing a Killer Proposal and Query Letter to grab the attention of agents and editors alike.
SATURDAY Workshops
11:15 am - 12:15 pm CENTRAL
Workshop 9: Swoony in the Sweet
Presented by Jenny B. Jones
Sweet romance can (and should) still bring the heat. Learn how to use conflict, tropes, grand gestures, and other romance must-haves to make your fictional couple sizzle and stay in the heart and mind of your reader long after the last page is read.
Workshop 10: Blogging to Reach the World
Presented by Janice Thompson
Whether you’re working with the blog on your author website or a niche blog, this course will help you fine-tune your categories, develop themes, create posts, and market them using SEO strategies.
2:00 pm - 3:00 pm CENTRAL
Workshop 11: You’re Out of Line! (Tips for Non-Linear Thinkers to Finish that Draft)
Presented by Dana Lynn
Have you ever sat down to write and realized you couldn’t write chapter four because all you could envision was how the book ended? You may be a non-linear writer. Dana R. Lynn started using this method by accident when she grew frustrated while writing her first book. Since then, she has crafted over thirty novels and novellas by this non-linear approach. In this workshop, Dana will share her tips and tricks to writing what she calls “out of line” and connecting all the threads so you can finish that first draft
Workshop 12: How to Attract Book Clubs to You and Your Book
Presented by DiAnn Mills
Writers are magnets for book clubs, but what are the tips to draw them to writers and the books? How does a writer entice the book club and ensure the experience is over the top fabulous? This workshop shows tried and true methods that I’ve used for over twenty years to find and keep book clubs returning for more.
3:15 pm - 4:15 pm CENTRAL
Workshop 13: Navigating Book Publicity in the Digital Age
Presented by Marika Flatt
Book publicity is one of the most vital pieces of launching a book and building its visibility in the marketplace. It should be a part of every author and publisher’s plan well before the book is written. This session will focus on generating publicity in today’s market, the role and impact of social media, and the many facets of communicating
in today’s PR landscape with tweets, posts and personalized emails.
